We Built our Own World
by mini glamour
Summary: "you'll always be welcome here." Saria reflects on the time when the blond, blue eyed child hero still lived safely with the Kokiris.


She always knew the blond haired, blue eyed boy was different from her. Call it a gut feeling, intuition, or a forest child's third eye: he was not normal. He was not born into the Kokiri Woods, but she knows that he has been with them for a long time. Kokiris are not born in the conventional way, but are given life through the Great Deku Tree himself; he simply appeared one day through the Great Deku Tree's grove and was entrusted to the fairy children. She remembers watching him in their early days from afar, gazing at the dancing lights with bright curiosity and looking into the deep woods, constantly chastised for trying to enter. After all, only misfortune could happen to a Kokiri in the Lost Woods. If this boy ever entered the mazelike jungle, the fairy children whispered, he would be lost just as previous foolish Kokiri had been, and wouldn't that be a shame?

Saria was not so sure. He had to be abnormal for a reason, so maybe his kin could venture in and out of the Woods unharmed. She spent many a night trying to figure out _why _he was so different, but she couldn't pinpoint anything. Maybe it was the scent of the forest's dampness or the earth that he lacked, but that didn't stop him from spending peaceful days playing with the Kokiri children. They included him in many pranks, jokes, and sparring practices, making Saria's weekly reports to the Great Deku Tree pleasant news. Of course, because he still didn't have a fairy, this was a cause for concern. The wizen old Tree, however, simply assured her that his time would come. As Saria bowed and walked back to their residence, she certainly hoped this would be the case.

Maybe it was because he was different than the Kokiri she spent her entire life with was why she enjoyed his presence out of everyone. From an early age, Saria formed a close bond with this boy, teaching him the basics of Kokiri life. Don't leave the forest, _ever_. If forest folk left the woods, then disaster would strike. Don't enter the Lost Woods either – or you'll become a Lost Child, a ghostly Skull Kid that will never leave the woods. The Great Deku Tree watches over us. Ask Mido if you want to visit him. Luckily, this boy was a good listener and not a big talker, so Saria could talk freely in his presence. What they liked to do is sit on Saria's roof and gaze at the stars at night, pointing out constellations and wishing on shooting stars. Sometimes she would play songs on her ocarina, which was always met with clapping at the end of any tune. She would feel a rush of warmth; a feeling that could only be called true happiness.

The price of him being different from the fairy children was not heavy, but unavoidable: he could not stay in the forest forever. Kokiri children do not grow old, but simply frolic in the Kokiri Forest for all eternity. A person like the blue eyed, blond haired boy could not live that way – he had to venture into Hyrule and live his destined life. The day he took up his shield and sword and purged the Great Tree was the day that Saria knew his time here was over. If there was one thing that could be celebrated by his departure, was that he had a companion – a fairy.

"You're leaving today, aren't you?" she said, peering at him through the mist. Saria was on the bridge that led to Hyrule Field – an entirely different world for real Kokiri. "I see…then this is really fate. These past years have been nothing but happiness."

He nodded, his big blue eyes determined but tinged with sadness.

"It's fine, though. We'll be friends forever…won't we?"

He nodded again, this time glancing at the exit. Did he feel anxious to leave? Saria wondered. Maybe he doesn't want to leave as soon as he likes.

"Here, I want you to have my ocarina." Digging the worn but loved ocarina out of her pocket, she placed it gently in his hands. "Please take good care of it. When you play it, I hope you'll think of me and come back to the forest to visit. This is your home, after all."

Inexplicably, her eyes felt wet with tears. This was the first time in years that she had seen someone off, and it was not a good feeling. She felt sad and lonely and wanted to grab his hand and watch the stars like they used to when they were younger, so that everything was right in their own little world in the forest. Where did those years go? Being a Kokiri, life was an endless dance, filled with smiling faces and the succulent scent of the earth. But this boy could not participate fully in a Kokiri's life. What was he, exactly? She wanted to know so badly, but at the same time, thought it would be best not to. The only thing she could do was wish him luck, and watch his life pass on, while hers stood still in an enchanted forest. She would always be friends with the fairy boy, even if he was dead and she still alive.

He gave her one last look, his face scarlet, and clutching his new ocarina ran into the unknown. He was, in all honesty, _embarrassed_. Maybe it was just the sad look the fairy girl had given him, but the boy was didn't know how to respond to such a generous present. He knew how much Saria loved her ocarina, so giving him hers was like giving him a piece of her. She had been his very best friend, the only Kokiri he could truly count on, and who knew if they would ever see each other again? The now deceased Tree had outlined his journey for him, but it seemed unlikely he would come back to the forest.

"This is your home, after all" – that's what Saria's parting words were, but he knew he was different. The children of the forest were an entirely different race, and he was something else. His world had been small before, thus he knew little. When he stepped out into the sunlight and gazed, at the rolling hills of Hyrule in awe, he knew that this was the world he belonged.

And yet – Kokiri Forest would always be a familiar outset where he could see Saria smile and play her prized ocarina, the forest spirits lazily floating among them, as they sat in their secret place and lived in a small, timeless world.

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><p><strong>AN:** i was recently replaying Ocarina of Time and i couldn't help but feel Link and Saria's parting was hard on both of them, especially Link. so i wrote this. i wish i could have made it longer but here you go! characters belong to Nintendo and not me.


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